Every CES has a distinct theme to it and its becoming clear that the theme for 2014 is wearable gadgets. Sony has jumped in with both hands, launching a wrist-based fitness monitor called the SmartBand and an accompanying app called Lifelog.
The company joins the likes of LG and many others in showing off a fitness-orientated wearable gadget at this year’s tech show in Las Vegas. Similarly to the LG Life Band Touch, Sony’s new SmartBand is a simple and colourful wrist band which connects wirelessly to your smartphone in order to send across data regarding your activity, with the aim being to keep track of your movements and habits in order to be healthier.
Available in a range of colours – white, black and purple are shown above, but at CES Sony had the SmartBand in orange, yellow, pink and other colours – the SmartBand is set to cost €99, which is cheaper than the Nike Fuelband LE but pricier than the established Fitbit Flex. The device consists of a ‘core’ which contains all of the tech and a strap, the latter being exchangeable to suit your tastes. Sony says it will offer three different band colours in a pack for €15-€20.
The SmartBand is just one of a number of devices Sony plans to launch in a new wearable range, with the key part being the ‘core’. This is the part which the interchangeable bands attach to in order to put it on your wrist, and Sony says it plans to use the core in other devices in the future. The core consists of a battery which lasts up to five days, three LED lights which notify the user of new updates appearing on the connected Android smartphone and a Lifelog button.
Unlike many other fitness-orientated wearable gadgets we’ve been seeing lately, the idea of the SmartBand is quite simple. The user can press the Lifelog button on the core in order to record a specific moment in the Lifelog app which runs on a connected Android smartphone. Everything that is logged from the SmartBand can be viewed at a later date using the Lifelog app on an Android phone, including your photographs taken with the phone, steps taken, messages sent, the weather, your sleep patterns, what movies you watch and what music you listen to on your phone and more. It’ll also track your location so that you can create routes on the map when using Lifelog – ideal for runners and walkers, we reckon.
The Sony SmartBand will launch sometime before March of this year. Take a look at it in action below.